[January 17, 2016] Military blunders are fascinating for their mystery and tragic for their death and destruction. The inevitable question asked in each case was whether or not each was a failure of leadership or of something else. Interestingly, militaries have studied the failures of armed forces for generations but the lessons learned are not always the right ones.
A raging debate in the military community has always focused around the reasons for a military blunder. Was it a leadership failure or not? Even a successful military operation can cost lives and the treasure of a society; failure can have a traumatic effect and explains the importance of getting to the root cause.
Any military operation differs from all other types of organizations. This difference cannot be underestimated but the lessons from the military can be applied across societal groups and organizations. First, militaries operate in one way during war and another in peace. While their mission may be war, the majority of time is spent conducting peaceful and heavily bureaucratic tasks. Second, military operations involve considerable risk, uncertainty, and are mistake-prone.
James Q. Wilson noted in his book Bureaucracy: What Government Agencies Do and Why They Do It, that military personnel who do well in peacetime are, unfortunately, not necessarily the same people you want around when the shooting breaks out. No surprise that in written history we see that those who in charge at the beginning of a war are rarely in charge at the end.
What makes the difference between success in warfare and failure? Leadership is the single most important factor; undeniably so. And, it is senior leadership that makes the difference, whether military officer or political head of that nation. The two greatest strategic blunders during World War II, for example, was Hitler’s decision to attack Russia and Japan’s decision to attach the United States.
There are mitigating circumstances in all wars. The fog of war permeates everywhere; uncertainty is the factor that makes it impossible to know everything and to have everything you need to succeed.
Regardless of the fog of war affects on the battlefield or of the nations supporting the effort, leadership stands above all other factors as the reason for military successes or failures and determines the difference in great leadership and all others.
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